


The Ties that Bind us are Forged from Moonstone

by Lithiumstars



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Content Warnings in Chapter Notes, Crystals should not be used instead of medical care, Descriptions of injury/gore, F/M, Fix-It, Flux (Yogscast), Flux Buddies Setting (Yogscast), M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sickfic Elements, Therapy, crystal meanings, i want them to heal and be okay, she/they prounons for Nanosounds, tearing apart the timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27536059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithiumstars/pseuds/Lithiumstars
Summary: Some of these events are old now, in my memory. Hazy, even. And you may think, why is this important. I'm reading about a cure, correct? For a dangerous and rampant disease? Why is the foreword apologising? These are all good questions, and in answer:Yes. Yes.Because if you really wanted the answer, you'd have come directly to me.A retelling of how the Endermage cured the magical infection known as Flux. Updates fridays.
Relationships: Lalna/Rythian Enderborn, Nanosounds/Rythian Enderborn, lalna/nanosounds
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	1. Moonstone

I will selfishly preface this with an apology. You'll know who it is directed at. Some of the words I use to describe you are nothing short of.. unsavoury, and it would be a disservice to not ask some forgiveness. I let myself run rather wild with the prose, as you know I'm prone to. I think you're quite lovely, and I hope I remind you of this enough that we can look back at those unkind and mismeant words and laugh at my misjudgement.

Some of these events are old now, in my memory. Hazy, even. And you may think, why is this important. I'm reading about a cure, correct? For a dangerous and rampant disease? Why is the foreword apologising? These are all good questions, and in answer:  
Yes. Yes.  
Because if you really wanted the answer, you'd have come directly to me.

Flux, when it reaches an infectious state on the body, is something to be dealt with as quickly as possible. My services have been open since the discovery of the cure, and will continue to be, hopefully far outliving me. If you were here for those answers, how to contact me is listed on the inside cover. Do so now.

If you are here for the story about a Mother and her three bastard children, then I won't take up any more of your time. 

Chapter 0 : Moonstone

* * *

His name wasn't important in that moment, lost to adrenaline and nerves firing at double speed, propelling him through the undergrowth and thick fog of the Twilight. The vines swatted at any bare skin, leaving what would no doubt bloom into throbbing purple marks with time. Arrows fired from the dark, unseen assaulters between branches and mushrooms. A blade caught at his side, pain shooting through his middle in a swipe of electricity, and he stumbled. Luck, if anything, kept him running. Underneath the blur of his vision, he saw his goal. A pit in the ground, glowing with a gentle swirling light. He knew it was purple- couldn't see it, reflecting on the dew damp grass and droplet-laden leaves, but the colours were a distracting watercolour smudge, and he didn't care enough to stop and admire the sight. Each footfall burned with ache, bare feet sodden with mud. He slipped, accepting it within the second, momentum carrying him forward through the mud and into the portal.

It tingled, like portals all do. They're all unique, different pockets to different places, with specific tugs of their native magic. Twilight magic prickled on his skin, like the texture of sandpaper pressed just hard enough to feel, not to harm. Overworld magic felt like honey, thick and warm and all encompassing, though he might have been biased at that moment, crawling out of the portal onto slick, squelching earth, and almost weeping with relief.

It was storming. Violent pouring, the sort of rain that pounds so heavily against your windows that you're afraid it's trying to knock it's way in. The storm where lightning strikes and you can feel, taste even, the crackle of power as it surges far too close for comfort. The thunder that roars like a thrice fooled god, bellowing out for what, from your perspective, feels like the entire world as it shakes around you. He's the epicenter of that storm, it feels, and he couldn't bring himself to mind. If lightning chose to strike him down, at least it would have been on his own terms. The ozone taste of the charged air was reward enough for his escape.

In the flash of the lightning, just visible through the beating rain and the pitch black of night, a silhouette stood wide not far from his position. A few silhouettes, actually, but he was focused on the one directly ahead. Had he not been so, well, forced in his situation, he'd have noticed the spattering of buildings around him, the neat fences lined with well maintained bushes and shrubbery. His line of sight though was tunnelled on the building ahead. In the light of day, under a more gentler weather, he'd have seen the pleasant red wood, the white borders, the hanging lights and lanterns, the sheer homely aura of it. 

In the dark now, it was shelter. Hands dug as solidly into the mud as he could, he pushed himself up, kneeling before swaying upright. Underfoot, grimy soil made way into smooth cobble, paved stone and soft grass, a garden. He lost his footing a few feet from the door, catching his arm around a pulpit of some kind, the basin's water rich with earthen mana. He missed the feel of his own magic, stomping forward with a final burst of energy, before his eyes fell shut and he collapsed against the door. The impact swung it open, depositing him hard on the stone floor, slick and matted with blood and dirt and grime. 

The thud was audible upstairs. One sat up, bolt upright in their bed, long black hair pinned into a messy bun, messed further from their few hours of sleep. The other grumbled, swaying in their hammock before nudging their way up to a sit, sidling their legs out to land, socks making a gentle pad as they hit the planks. The first retrieved a bat from under their bed, a heavy and stained wooden baton, too large in their hands. Backs against the wall, they slowly crept down the stairs, breathing calm and weapons readied against their unknown intruder. The smaller, the one with the bat, lowered it as soon as they saw the body on the floor, eyes widening at the sight. The blood was noticed next, the track of dirt behind them. The other stood dumbfounded at the bottom step, his wand dropped to his feet, staring into the deadweight stranger, only regaining composure once his partner started prodding at their head with the butt of the baton.

"Nano-" he started, waving a hand in a gesture of 'stop, please', softly padding over in far fewer strides than Nano had, "don't."  
Nano obliged, setting the baton against the wall, and yawned aggressively, hand over their mouth as she kneeled down, balancing on the balls of her feet.  
"Is- are they okay? Alive?"  
They pulled at a hand, wincing at the scrapes and dried blood, and pressed a probing finger into their inner wrist, nodding at him once they felt a pulse.

He turned, fumbling around for the medkit on the counter without looking, hand eventually finding the handle before he moved to sit next to Nano. They exchanged a quick look, turning the body over and into a rough approximation of the recovery position. His face moved into view, previously tucked uncomfortably between his arm and the stone floor, and the taller recoiled, letting out a sharp intake of breath.  
“Hey- hey, Lal? Who is it?”  
“Rythian.”  
Nano mirrored Lalna’s grimace, wincing as she moved Rythian’s arm out of the way.  
“Okay, well. S’not important right now. Let’s just get him patched up.”  
“The worst of it is over here. Let uh, let me get him up and you- you’re better at the medical stuff.”  
“You’re just too squeamish to do stitches, Dunc.” Nano spat, though there was no real venom to it. She shuffled back to swap places with him, Lalna setting his knees beneath Rythian’s waist to elevate the stained midsection.

Gentle hands moved the fabric away, revealing a tender cut, drooling with blood and viscera, about two inches deep into his waist. It spanned a good portion of it too, wider from end to end than Lalna's hand, now wrapped in cotton to stem the weeping wound. The edges were clean, at least, a sharp sword- not the raw, blistered slashes Lalna had seen plenty of in his time. Nano grit her teeth, handing Lalna more gauze to soak up the blood.  
"Is- surely that's not enough to knock him out?" Lalna mused, palms pressed firm over the cut.  
"Hmm," Nano paused, sterilising the equipment in the kit with a small cloth, "no, probably not."  
"Are there other wounds, then?"  
"Uh," she paused again, taking a cursory glance, "none visible. We'll give him a once over after this. It's the worst of it, unless the other stuff was blunt force trauma or something."  
Lalna hummed in agreement, resigning himself to stare anywhere but the wound as Nano began the process of properly cleaning it, now that the blood flow had been stemmed enough to work around.

Rythian's face, lolled to the side as it was, was what caught his eye. His eyes, shut tight with a worrisome look, were shadowed and bagged, sleepless despite his lack of consciousness. What skin was visible beneath the coating of mud and brush was ashen, pale and sickly. Cold. He'd felt the brush of his hand- he was cold. Blood loss, not that it was new information to him, but concerning nonetheless. He pressed the back of his hand to Rythian's forehead, brushing away the matted hair, freezing when his ears twitched at the contact. His head was thankfully warm, or at least passable compared to the deathly chill of his fingers.  
“Something bad happened.”  
“I think that’s obvious.” Nano retorted, huffing in amusement when Lalna looked over and gagged.  
“You kno- You know what I mean! Something really bad. This- This isn’t like him. He’s got,” Lalna gestured over Rythian’s body in a broad wave, “nothing with him! He’s barely clothed, looks like he’s barely slept- although that’s not too strange- and this is the most injured I think I’ve ever seen him?”  
Nano looked at him oddly, an eyebrow raised. He continued, leaning back to avoid hitting Rythian as he moved his arms with his words.  
“He’s magic, like, really magic, Nano. He heals himself. N-not well! Not well at all, but he can heal. This- I’ve never seen him with a, uh, a proper open wound. It’s scary, y’know.”  
She made a noise of agreement.  
“I just can’t imagine something taking magic away. That’s what- That’s gotta be what happened? Right?”  
“Hold this.” 

* * *

Rythian dangled strangely on the sofa, long legs angled as comfortably as they could manage, bandaged arm tucked to his side with the right hanging loose down the side, no matter how many times Nano nudged it back to his chest. His hair was messed, stuck up at impossible angles despite his lack of movement, but free at least from the clumps it harbored before. The fresh shirt was also, in Lalna’s opinion at least, ridiculously oversized on him. It was his, loaned while Rythian’s threadbares were mended and cleaned thoroughly, and it swamped the man in swathes of baby blue cotton. Nano had cooed. It wasn’t adorable.

He looked small. Lalna hated it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moonstone: Known as the traveler's stone, protector of those who travel by night and by water. Opens the heart and has been believed to reunite lost loved ones after periods of strife.


	2. Epidote

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 day early bc new Zelda tomorrow means I'll probably forget hsjsb enjoy :D

“I promise, I’m not trying to get out of changing the bandages-”  
“It sounds an awful lot like you’re trying to get out of changing his bandages.”  
“I don’t want him to wake up to me!”  
Nano opened her mouth to snipe something back, closing it uselessly to take a breath she didn’t realise she hadn’t taken. He blinked, coursing a hand through his hair.  
“I’ve told you what I did-”  
“And you came to a truce.”   
“So? He didn’t want to see me again! I know- I know I’ve changed, that I’m better than the arsehole who planted that nuke, but that doesn’t go for his end. He doesn’t know me, Nano, and he won’t want to a-a-and I don’t blame him!”  
“I’ll be there,” Nano offered, “That won’t fix it, at all, but it’ll help, yeah?”  
Lalna nodded, chewing at his lip in a way that had Nano wrap arms around his shoulder and pull him close.

They stood there for a moment, lingering in the pressure of each other's embrace. Nano smelled faintly of antiseptic and alcohol and Lalna sneezed, laughing as he pushed her out of the way. Her arm stayed on his. 

He looked alive now, at least. The spare room had been overhauled into a small infirmary, plastic sheets now tucked to the side. A small cart that had held books before, now held bandages and other instruments in a small ceramic tray. It was stuffy, despite the open window, and the smell of lavender was strong from the satchels of herbs littered about the drawers. 

Nano moved to his side, lifting his arm away from his side with a gentleness she didn’t often exhibit. The bandages were barely darkened, not as sickening as the deep red they’d been stained the first few changes. She looked up at him, mouth a thin line as she silently urged him to come closer. Lalna did, stepping across, aware of the heavy silence in the room broken by the all too loud click of his boots. Wordlessly, she placed the roll of cloth into his open palm, returning his attention to Rythian as she removed the dirtied bandage for him. He watched intently. He knew how to do it, of course, he had changed his own, played doctor for plenty of his friends over the years. Even Rythian, once before. He watched now to match the softness of her motions, barely touching skin, as removed from the process as he could be. 

“Lalna.”  
He snapped from his stare, looking up at Nano. She’d finished, dropping the remnants into the bin next to the bed. He huffed, scrunched his eyes shut for a second before slipping into the chair as she stepped out, hovering just behind him. Like she didn’t think he could do it right, a whisper planted in the back of his head, and Lalna almost wanted to believe it. The hand that settled on his shoulder said otherwise.

The wound was still red, the bloody anger of the initial colour long faded into a sore blushed tone along his waist, interlaced with the neat stitches holding it shut, and a topographic map of pale white scars. He recognised one, restraining the urge to trace it, and instead dabbed the cotton pad into the warm water before gently brushing away any dried blood along the seam. It had healed well despite the lack of magic. Rythian twitched absently as the pad glided over, jostling the healing nerves, not quite enough for a true reaction, just an acknowledgement of the sensation. This brought a frail smile to Lalna’s face, the information that he could at least feel, still. 

“Does he need the full wraps?” Lalna asked, tilting his head back to look up at Nano. She considered for a moment, using his shoulders as anchors to peer over.  
“Hmm. No, yeah. We should switch to the pad. Saves moving him about so much.” The pads were in their packet still, stuck together enough that the peel of fabric was grating to the ears. Nano had bought them a few months before, stocking up the first aid kits with a frankly worrying amount of equipment to the poor trader in New Mistral.

* * *

His head was full of soil: dark, sodden, not enough air and he was choking- he choked on the water, batting with hands he couldn't feel against the source, received nothing when his palms touched it. No image, no idea of what held him down and cradled his head. A faint shushing burrowed through the layer of earth, the vague force no longer holding him down but brushing against his wrist, soft and comforting. A face blurred into view, skin honey and a sickening purple, eyes warm brown and pale, poisoned pink. Thick, onyx hair draped over their shoulders, pulled back uselessly into a ponytail that escaped down her back. Her face was kind, set calm and neutral, watching him with thinly veiled concern. 

“Hello?”  
She laughed as he grumbled, a halted attempt to reply. Not a mean laugh though, or mocking, just a laugh, quiet and short.  
“That’s okay. You want the rest of the glass?” The clear cup in her hand shook lightly, to catch his eye he assumed. The water made a noise, Rythian knew, but it was too quiet for him to hear with the dull thrumming that sat rooted in his head. He nodded, clenching his jaw at the ache it dislodged. She shuffled closer, sat on the bed- bed? He was on, no, in a bed, blanket now tousled to the side. 

One hand rested on his shoulder, a firm sensation- grounding- while the other hovered just a touch from the glass. He was able to hold it, but he didn’t blame them for being cautious considering his apparent state. What was his state? His chest hurt, though that might have come from the earlier stutter, and his head throbbed. Again though, that could merely be from a lack of water, or rest, or any other problem he often found himself running into.  
“Rythian?”  
Shit. She’d been talking? He couldn’t hear her.  
“Mm?” He mumbled, setting the cold of the cup between his palms.  
“I asked how your side is.”  
Rythian opened his mouth to speak, interrupted when a flash of blond reared in his peripheral vision.

Nano shouted, a flash of terror, as Rythian bolted back, legs kicking him against the headboard. He keeled over, glass dropped to the sheets as he clutched at his waist, grimacing and whining with the pain that flared with the sudden movement. Nano reached forwards, hesitating, before deciding on just taking the glass, placing it on the cart.   
“He had to see you at some point,” she said, a snap of something in their voice.  
“Yeah but-”  
“Where’s Sjin, huh?” Rythian spat, pointing a shaking finger at Lalna, who sat accused on a stool just further along the wall from the headrest. He smiled nervously, eyes wide with what could have easily been mistaken for fear.   
“What?” he stumbled over the word, stuttering.  
“Don’t play dumb.”  
“Rythian, hey-”  
“Come to take me back, or what?” he let himself growl, shoulders raised, “Come to gloat?”

Lalna stared at him stupidly, biting at his lip with a look of confusion.  
“Wait,” he started, “Wait! You got, uh… The Magic Police? Those arseholes?”  
It was Rythian’s turn to stare blankly, blinking.  
“They came for Nano too, once, but uh,” Lalna pressed his hands together, “they took me instead? It’s a, he’s a clone.”  
Rythian narrowed his eyes, disbelieving.  
“Called you undesirable #1, right?” Nano said, leaning over.  
“Yes. How- what? Xephos really let some clones out?”  
“Unfortunately,” Lalna nodded, leaning back with a scowl.

“So there are two Lalnas.” Rythian deadpanned, sitting himself up against the headboard.  
“At least,” Nano mused, “How’s your side?”  
“Oh, it’s ah- it’s not great.”  
“Shocking.”  
“How,” Rythian started, fumbling over his words, “Can you let your hair down?”   
Lalna, expression set back to guilty, nodded, pulling the tie from his ponytail. He brushed it through roughly with his fingers, the blond mane reaching his back. Rythian visibly relaxed at the sight, shoulders slouched into the pillow.   
“The other- he kept it up, huh?”  
Rythian hummed in response, nodding lightly.  
“Alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epidote: Empowerment and enhancement of emotions. A magnet for feelings.


	3. Rhodochrosite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Little note for this chapter. After the rule, during Rythian's tale, there are discussions of starvation and dehydration that are just.. brushed off by Rythian so if that's bad for you, here's the warning.

Rythian batted at Lalna’s hand, much to his chagrin.  
“You’re just gonna pull something, doing it yourself.”  
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Rythian murmured, snatching the gauze pad back.  
“You two are the worst, honestly,” Nano sighed, dragging her chair forwards, elbowing Lalna out of the way, “Bickering like children.”  
Rythian flushed, silenced, while Lalna shuffled back with a huff. Nano was better at applying the bandage, this was fact, but Lalna insisted on doing his share now that Rythian knew he existed, and didn’t seem to want to immediately attack him. He’d refuse Lalna’s help more times than not, seeing to his own injuries despite the awkward angle.

Nano finished Lalna’s work off neatly, in half the time he’d have taken, pointedly ignoring the feudal stare contest happening above her head. Rythian brushed his hair, accepted the obnoxiously bright pullover hoodie that Lalna placed on the dresser, and excused the two to change into the fresh clothes.

The mirror in the room was small, an afterthought, balanced on the dresser to lean on the wall. Removing his shirt, he glanced over the scars that criss crossed his torso. He didn’t look at himself often, the sensation of his own eyes on his body confusing and prickling at the back of his neck, some leftover trait of the end he’d never quite shook. The hoodie was remarkably soft, the inside layer almost fleecy compared to the flat cotton of the exterior. The colours were ridiculous, nothing matched, sleeves two separate hues, mismatched drawstrings, even the cuffs were odd.

It was also far too big on him, but that wasn’t much of a shock, the hem clinging just over his thigh. He wasn’t much shorter than Lalna, probably the same height if he didn’t wear the heavy boots he insisted on, but he’d always been thinner. Sighing, he plucked a hair tie from the floor and started to braid his, closing his eyes with the familiar motion. The long hair over his face was tucked behind his ears and he stared, just for a moment longer. He really hadn't seen himself in a while. No wonder they'd brought him in, face gaunt and eyes dark with forced insomnia. He looked like shit. 

It was Nano's soft knock on the door that snapped him from his thoughts, few as there were, and beckoned him outside. It wasn't the first time he'd left that room, he'd been less than lucid the time before, but the change in atmosphere was a shock to his system nonetheless.

He'd have hated it a few years before- the mish mash thrumming of magic and electronic whirring, pipes carrying items, oil, and water alike- but it was almost calming. Welcoming even. His philosophy that the two studies shouldn't mix had been challenged already yet, despite the sickening purple that he meant to confront them on, the two had managed it decently.

Nano was a witch, books and tomes on the subject littered across a series of bookshelves, lit candles scenting the open room with honey and cinnamon. Lalna, ever the easily distracted, contributed clearly to most of the clutter: half finished constructs, blueprints tacked to the wall with string and pins, the before mentioned pipework that ran like veins across the ceiling. He noted the lack of thaumaturgy miscellanea, no scribing tables or runic tables. Rythian took a firm breath, thinking over the words he'd spent most of the night mulling over, and opened the door into the courtyard.

Nano waved him over, beaming across the path from their place, barely taking attention away from the dish they appeared to be making. Lalna squatted on a bar stool to the building's outer counter, refusing to sit properly. The building, 'Nano's Noodle Shack' as the sign proudly declared, was a similar red shade of wood to the rest of the compound, white sliding at the corners and framing the door and windows. The awning, a thick curtain of rich red and gold, was trimmed with paper lanterns and fairy lights, dim in the late morning sun, but pretty nonetheless. 

The area around the bar was tiled, grass stubbornly creeping through the grout lines and bursting at the edges, with marble and granite slabs, alternating in a simple diagonal checkerboard, which spread out in a diamond shape. Four paths stemmed from each corner- one of which he'd walked down, bordered by buildings, much of the same design, greebled with pipes and tubes, bases overgrown with grass and moss. 

One path led to a small bridge, spanning a still pond, surrounded by glowing flowers and mushrooms, and further down the path he could see paddocks and fencing, no doubt where the animals were kept. Another, opposite of the prior, led to a series of stone walls, past the storehouse, that blocked his view further. He'd investigate later, squinting at the sign that hung from the closest wall.

The path that led out of the courtyard, past the noodle bar, was trodden and lined with bushes, barely tamed by attempts made with shears. Nano smiled as he drifted past, snapping something towards Lalna before he spoke. He couldn't avoid the way his eyes found blood on the tiles, and he knew it was his. Bare feet, muddy and torn, leaving prints half-dragged across the stone. They hadn't had time to clean it, or didn't care to, or perhaps they expected him to clear away the gore. It was his, he supposed.

The path stretched out further into a garden, to another smaller paved diamond, centered by a font. He recognised it, the one he'd steadied himself on, the clean marble and enchanted vines that snaked their way up to twirl and drape around the rim like living filigree. The magic still flowed from it, beams of mana pooling into basins, just as marbled and intricate, spread about the flora. The same glowing flowers grew so bountiful around the font, taller and lusher and brighter, beautiful arrays of colours he didn't know the names of.

"You like it?"  
Rythian hummed.  
"You know, I heard a lot of stories about you."  
"Oh?" He mused, following her back towards the bar.  
"Myths, I guess," she guided him into the stool a seat away from Lalna, "big spooky endermage! Don't look in his eyes! He's hiding the mouth of a dragon under the mask!"  
Rythian chuckled, "Of course."  
"I thought you'd be taller."  
He choked at that, laughing in earnest.

Rythian leaned forwards, watching Nano cook absently.  
"I need to ask something, before.. before anything else."  
"Is it about the flux?" Lalna mumbled, "because: yes, it was my fault, and yes, it was the flux sphere you warned me was dangerous."  
"Ah. Well. Okay."  
"Anything else?"  
"Where- what are you doing about it? I didn't see anything inside, nor any silverwood trees, or, uh-"  
"We've tried everything," Nano interjected, cutting the gas to the burner, the sizzling sound of their pan falling silent.  
"I'm not…" the quiet was oppressive, "no, I was- I'm sorry for thinking you hadn't tried."

Dragging a hand through his hair, Lalna sighed and let his head drop into his arms, crossed on the counter.  
"Look, Rythian, it's been.. it's been a long time. Whatever you've been off doing, I'm sure it's changed you, right? As- as a person, I mean."  
"Lalna."  
"Let me finish. I know I did bad things, especially to you, _and you certainly retaliated_ , but it's been years since then. I'm not -at least I'm pretty sure I'm not- the same asshole who thought a nuke was a good idea. I feel awful for letting this happen, and I've exhausted every option we could think of. I branched out! I asked Lomadia and Nilesy, and Parvis, and I tried to get in contact with Kirin- but it all fell short."  
"Let me try."  
"You think you're better?" Lalna barked, snapping upright in his seat.  
"No! Gods, no. Just… Just let me try. It's the least I can do."  
"You were going to ask him." Nano said, watching them both.  
"Yeah," Lalna nodded slowly, "and it's not like you're going anywhere soon."  
Rythian hummed, expression soured.

* * *

"Actually, uh, how did you end up on our doorstep?"  
"Don't phrase it like that!" Nano huffed, knocking Lalna's shoulder with her own.  
"No, no, he's right," Rythian smiled briefly, before the realisation of what he was about to say hit him, "I, uh, it's a long story. I'm willing to tell, of course, but uh-"  
"Take your time." Nano held out their hand, hovering over his shoulder. He leaned into them.

"The Magic Police found me once before, just after I'd left the Twilight. Wait. I should start there, shouldn't I? Since we last met, Lalna, Zoeya and I travelled to the Twilight. It was her home. Your nukes, the war in the old world, she lost her memories. Not enough to forget herself, but enough that finding her castle in the Twilight certainly shocked us both. She's their Princess, a Twilight native, which really makes sense once you think about it. The whole.. mushroom thing. 

You know about the Queen, and her intended conquest of everything, right? Right. Since my departure from her ranks, she'd started to make moves on some of the other dimensions. The Nether had no resistance, but the Twilight? They refused to let her in, and cast out a barrier to prevent the End from seeping in. It worked, actually, really well. I- my magic there, failed. And I wasn't well. But I had to be there for her, right? She'd just been confronted with a past she didn't know she had. I was selected as essentially her knight, while she adjusted, and I knew the End well. I got really sick after a while.

She made me leave. It was the right choice, it wasn't like I could actually protect her if anything happened! And so I left, and I was on my own again. And then _they_ found me, dragged me to their stupid little prison tower. It took a little while for my strength to come back, but once I did, I broke out with ease, and fucked up a few of their belongings while I was at it.

I don't know how they found me the second time, and I don't know how they knew about the repellent that the Twilight had put up, but somehow they did. They threw me back, through the portal, stripped me of my equipment, and locked me in a cell. I was lucky enough to be parked beneath a fruit tree, and it rained just enough that their complete lack of forethought to provide anything for their prisoner wasn't enough on its own to kill me.

I don't know how long I spent in there, truly. The days and nights blurred together, dehydration and malnourishment, the constant pressure of the Twilight's barrier pressing into my head. But I had a goal. The cell was quite literal, mind, just four barred metal walls and mesh sealing the top and bottom. Every time I had the strength to, I would shove myself between a specific two bars. It took so, so, so fucking long. I could push them apart, slowly making progress, slowly making more and more space until I could actually fit myself through.

Now I think back I do wonder how much of that was me moving the bars, and how much was the, ah, violent lack of food. Either way, I got out. I slipped through, and I fucking ran. I ran and ran until I found a portal. Just happened to be yours."

"What the fuck."  
"Seconded."  
"What the fuck!" Lalna stood up from the sofa, fingers tugging at his hair, "What the actual fuck!?"  
"It's really not that b-"  
"RYTHIAN! ITS BAD!"  
"Nothing worse than what the Queen did to me."  
Lalna groaned, turning and setting his hands on Rythian's shoulders.  
"That doesn't make it better. Gods."  
"Oh I'm gonna kill them. It's on sight." Nano said, clenching their fists, "It's on sight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhodochrosite: Unconditional love and comfort. Known as the stone of compassion, and can help with the examination and acknowledgment of past trauma.


	4. BONUS: Amber

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Yuletide, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and otherwise a joyous end of the nightmare year of 2020. Enjoy a little festive bonus.

The snow was ridiculously thick, piled against walls like frigid pillows, the grass and paths beneath all but swallowed by the white. Lalna had shrugged on a fleecy jacket, dark grey bristling against the rich purple of the knitted sweater he’d taken to wearing since the weather had fallen. Stood against the doorway to the forge, Rythian looked out over the courtyard, red cabin walls and white trims reminding him of something old, and sipped at the travel mug he held tight to. 

The forge was a new addition. The smeltery had found its home before in the house, tacked into the corner as a last thought. Rythian had taken it upon himself to move it to a small shed that sat abandoned further down the path. It was warm in there, quiet, nothing but the bubble of the lava and the sizzles of steam when he plunged a blade or metal rod into the trough of water to cool it. He was oddly at home in his makeshift blacksmiths, and had thought that perhaps that would have been his calling, had his fate not been snatched from him so young.

Lalna, nose tucked into the neck of his sweater, trudged through the snow in a rough approximation of where the path had been towards the forge. Rythian wasn’t going to admit that he’d slept in there last night, working late into the dark night, simply choosing to fall asleep in the corner with a blanket rather than plodding through the snow back to the house. The blond’s breath came out in steaming puffs, visible through the frozen air, his face suitably red to combat the blue chill surrounding them.

“Did you sleep here last night?”  
Rythian bit his lower lip, maintaining a straight face.  
“I don’t blame you one bit.” Lalna finished, before Rythian had a chance to actually respond. He pushed past him, shuddering at the change in temperature.   
“A-ah!” Rythian squawked suddenly, remembering what he’d been working on, striding across the room to bundle it between his sleeves. Raising an eyebrow, Lalna leaned against the smelter.  
“Wha’s that?”  
“Nothing you need to be concerned with.”  
“You making contraband in my smeltery?” Lalna joked, closing his eyes briefly to savour the warmth.  
“Something like that,” Rythian tucked the package into his sleeve, “What did you want, actually?”  
“Nano’s doing a cooked breakfast. Wanted to know what you would eat.”  
“Oh. That’s nice of them.”  
“Yeah. Strange.”  
Rythian hummed in agreement at Lalna’s tease.

“You’ve been distracted all day,” Nano’s perceptive gaze landed on Rythian again, “What’s going on.”  
“It’s nothing.”  
“It’s clearly something, idiot.”  
“Do you, ugh,” he pulled his hand through his hair, mussing it up further, “Do you do anything for Yule?”  
Nano shook her head, glancing over to Lalna who shrugged.  
“We celebrated the new year more at home, and Lalna doesn’t really.. Do ‘all that’.”  
Rythian leaned back into the chair.

“Do you mind if I’ve prepared something?”  
“I think that depends on what you mean.”  
“I made you something. Both of you, really. Uh.”  
Reaching into his sleeve, where the reed paper-wrapped package had sat for the majority of the day, he plucked it out and held it towards Nano. Lalna scooted forwards, shuffling the chair behind him. It was slightly too large to be held in his hand, the other hovering near in case he shuddered or knocked it. 

Nano took it gently, watching Rythian for approval. He flicked his eyes down towards the package then back to their face, a pensive smile across his own. They pulled at the string tying it shut, gasping at the sudden burst of colour as they peeled away the wrapping. In their hands, touch gentle around the seemingly frail object, sat a small cat. Rough hewn, chipped away at over weeks with makeshift tools, carved amber. It’s eyes were aquamarine, set into the carved stone, reflected in the small, braided gold band around its neck. 

“Oh.” Lalna spoke first, gingerly reaching out to hold the sculpture.”  
“It’s uh, it’s Amber, which traditionally has protective qualities, and brings good luck, so paired with the soothing qualities of the aquamarine, I thought it would be good to have about, because we, uh-”  
“Rythian.”  
“It’s also- You seemed to like cats, so I made it a cat, and-”  
“Rythian, it’s wonderful.”   
“You like it?”  
Nano responded wordlessly, leaning across the gap between them to pull him into a hug, arms tight around his shoulders. He froze for a tense moment, before leaning into their arms, raising one to clutch gently at the wool of her sweater.  
“What’s the gold about?” Lalna asked, turning the cat around, a genuine smile on his lips.  
“It, uh, it just looked nice.”  
Lalna chuckled, placing it on the table between them.  
“It really is beautiful, Rythian. Thank you.”


End file.
